Explain 'Gay Marriage debate' to me?

Question

I am unclear on the gay marriage debate.

Is it that gays want to be married in/recognised by the church? Do they just want the same rights conferred by government upon straight marriages? Is it just the word marriage?

I am all in favor of letting gay people get married and have the same rights as straights and let them call it marriage if they like, but why can't religious organisations decide for themselves?

What is it you fabulous guys want?

Answer 1

Okay, I'll try to explain. Of course this is just one interpretation, but it's a darn good one if you ask me:

See, marriage isn't a religious institution. It's a governmental one. For straight couples a marriage by a Justice of the Peace is just as legal as a Church wedding. A straight person does not have to be married by a member of the clergy in order to be considered married. These straight couples have all the legal protections on their relationship no matter who marries them, the church or the state.

No one is asking churches to marry gay people if they don't want to. There are many churches that still have very strict rules about which straight people they will and will not marry, and no one is fighting for them to marry all straight people equally because that would go against their beliefs. But government isn't about beliefs. It's about rights and responsibilities. Gay people have all the responsibilities of straight people. We work, pay taxes, and participate fully in society. Yet we do not have all the rights of straight people. We can be barred from visiting our partner in the hospital because we are not legally family. Common property isn't really common property. And heaven forbid there are children involved. Imagine being taken away from one mommy because the other mommy died and that woman's family fought for custody and won based on the fact that the surviving mommy wasn't the biological mother! It's happened so many times, and imagine how traumatizing that is for the child!

Ciivil unions, while an improvement, do not afford the same privileges that marriage does. Civil unions grant more protection than we have now, but it does not grant as much protection as a marriage does. Right now in the US the legality of a gay couple's union varies depending on what state they're driving through at the moment. Imagine if you had a union that was not recognized in every state, and your partner falls horribly ill in a state where your union is not recognized. You would not have the power of health care proxy. You might not even be allowed in the hospital room! Your partner could die while you're stuck out in the waiting room yelling at the triage nurse. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? No one should have to live with that kind of uncertainy.

Since we are not trying to force religious institutions to recognize our marriages, I don't really see what the problem is. It's a matter of being equal before the law, and granting equal legal stability and protections to gay unions. The only reason why many people get confused about who we're demanding equal rights from is because the conservative Christian groups that constantly speak up on the issue try to make it sound like we're attacking the very foundation of their church, even though what we want has absolutely nothing to do with the church. They're a very powerful lobbying group and they are able to twist things around so that talk of church and state get all mixed up, leaving those who are just learning about the issue thoroughly confused. So please tell anyone who will listen. We want marriage legally recognized from the government. We are not trying to force religious institutions to perform gay marriages.

For years the myth about gay people was that they never wanted to settle down and therefore would not make good family units. Well, hordes of gay people are saying loud and clear that they ARE settled down and would like their committment recognized. But we are being denied the right to do so. How does this make any sense?

Answer 2

Well, first of all, thank you for calling us fabulous instead of sodomites. That gets old after a while.

The whole debate stems from a few verses in the Bible that make conservative Christians believe that homosexuality is a hedonistic lifestyle, and that it is their job to defend the sanctity (holiness) of marriage and the family. Usually they view homosexuals as heathens who can't control their baser instincts and choose to sleep with whomever (or whatever) they want.

Gay people, on the other hand, feel that we are being treated as second-class citizens because of a minor personality variation. We know that sexuality is not a choice made at any point in our lives (and we also question the sanity of choosing to be ostricized by society), but just something that happens every now and then, depending on any number of factors.

We also know not to sleep with ducks.

And on a slightly biased note: fundamentalist Christians will interpret the Bible any way they want, if it serves to subvert any opinion that isn't their own.

Answer 3

I think it is more recognition by the state. A legal legitimizing of their partnership and the recognition by all that it is their right to do so. I could be wrong though. I just dont understand why so many people care if they get married. It in no way effects anyone else. If someone doesnt like it dont go to the wedding. The only issue anyone can raise against it is religously based therefore shoulsd not be an issue since we are supposed to have seperation of church and state. I think it is disgusting that in this day and age the govt would allow some religous group to dicate their personal PREJUDICE and bigoted outlooks on the whole country.

Answer 4

i'm a Christian and that i don't think that a guy or woman it rather is gay is going to flow to hell, not if this guy or woman believes that Jesus Christ is Savior and died for their sins. as quickly as all of us get to the judgment Seat of Christ, all of our works are going to be positioned by a furnace of fire, and if there is any sin in our lives that we died before we had a super gamble to admit, we are going to go through loss, yet we will nonetheless be saved as by fire. i don't comprehend the place some human beings get the suited that a believing gay guy or woman would be unable to in all probability be a Christian simply by fact they're gay, yet have self assurance that they themselfs are Christians even tho in addition they have sin of their lives. human beings might desire to attain that even tho we've self assurance, we nonetheless sin, only simply by fact i'm not gay does not recommend that i'm sinless. And neither is the different Christian.

Answer 5

Gay Marriage debate:
Gays want more civil rights than many straights are willing to honor.

Thanks for your support.

Answer 6

gay marriage is just another controversy tried by law and religion.

both law and religion are instruments made by man of the world. both are inconsistent and deteriorating the fashion in which society lives. that being that so many things that were totally unaccepted and intolerated have become accepted by these two elements.

i can't help but think "there is a way that seems right to a man and that way leads to death and destruction"...the holy bible.

Answer 7

Yes it is as you say.

Homosexual want to be able to get married and have their union recognised by the church and by law so that in the event of divorce or death they are entitled to the same rights as heterosexuals.

Why the church and a lot of political leaders refuse to recognise Gay unions is because they are stuck with this antiquated notion that same sex relationships are abnormal, and that that was not what God intended.

In my opinion regardless of what God did or did not intend, one only needs to look around to see that if such relationships are abnormal, then that must mean the"normal" people are a dying race.

Answer 8

to religious organizations, God made man and woman to mate - not man & man or woman & woman. Further more, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorah - the towns f sexual immorality which included homosexuality. this shows christians that God does not approve of gay relations.
not that He doesn't love them.Furthermore, marriage in the bible (as is still quoted in some relligions) is quoted as having to be 'a man leaving his father's house to join with a woman'....not a man.
there're a number of other exmaples in the bible which point to the fact that God did intend for same sex relationships.that is why religious organizations find it hard to accept same sex marriages in the house of God (i.e Church, Mosque, Temple) etc.

Answer 9

well....think about the dark ages...bloody mary...alot of hisotry has been controled by religion why do you think it would stop now?

Answer 10

I am absolutly against gay marrige, because it is wrong and un-natural. And secondly because it is strictly emphasised against in the Bible. The debate is that all the gays want the same rights and want to be looked upon equally as straight people. This, will never happen because of the basis of Anti-Gay population in America will form against it.